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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29721048">And They Were Roommates</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Insidious__Apple/pseuds/Insidious__Apple'>Insidious__Apple</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Minecraft (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst with a Happy Ending, Crush, Crushes, DNF, Dream's Perspective, Flirting, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Georgewastaken, Height Differences, Light Angst, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Secret Crush, Slow Burn, dreamnotfound</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-05-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 19:00:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>9,111</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29721048</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Insidious__Apple/pseuds/Insidious__Apple</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>George visits Dream and Sapnap in Orlando and Dream's feelings for George cannot go ignored for long. But does George feel the same way? Only time, unpredictable weather, and Sapnap's voice of reason will tell.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Clay | Dream &amp; GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>47</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is my first dnf fic and the first fic I've written in a while. Hope you enjoy! Please don't share this to the CCs and please don't plagiarize.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Do you think you’ll get recognized, Nick?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, I’m wearing a hoodie. Dude, you’re worrying too much about this. We’ll be in there for 20 minutes max. It’s fine.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>This didn’t make Dream any less nervous. He still hadn’t done a face reveal and didn’t want to accidentally do one because of someone recognizing Sapnap. He was saving it for a special occasion, like Vidcon. The sun, then the harsh lights of an airport baggage claim reflected off his sunglasses. They crossed to a bench and sat. Dream got out his phone and opened twitter while Sapnap scanned the room. He scrolled through his mentions and saw a dm from Karl suggesting a Halloween stream. He’d come back to that later. He looked up from his phone and saw a harried woman talking on her phone and rushing toward the taxis, an exhausted-looking couple dragging suitcase after suitcase off the baggage claim while their kids sat on the cart, a young man in what looked like an army uniform stepping towards the baggage claim and being promptly swept up in a hug from his girlfriend, but no George. The clock on the wall said 5 pm. Sapnap sighed impatiently.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Where is he? I thought he’d be here by now,” Sapnap said. “His flight landed at like, 4:30. Text him?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dream opened Messages and texted George.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>where r u</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I’m coming down the escalator to baggage claim. Where r u?</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He said he’s coming down the escalator.” Dream looked at the escalator. George was not there. Only strangers exited the escalator, all in various forms of exhaustion from travel.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>no ur not lmao. i’m on a bench in the baggage claim area with nick</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Okay well I’m almost there lol</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>where r u really</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I’m walking to the escalator. I’m like 10 feet away. Can we get food on the way to yours I’m starving</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He wants to get food on the way home.” Dream said, looking over at Sapnap, who nodded in agreement. Dream was also hungry and started thinking of food options.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m kind of hungry too.” Sapnap pulled out his phone and opened google maps. “Chick-fil-A?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nah, we have that all the time.” They’d had Chick-fil-A last night, another testament to Sapnap’s undying love of Chick-fil-A. “How about pizza? I think there’s a pizza hut like a mile away.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You guys will never agree on what kind. Chipotle’s close, how about that?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ooh, that sounds good. I’ll tell him.” Dream looked back at his phone and texted George.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>chipotle sound good?</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You don’t have to text me, I’m right here.” Dream looked up to see George smiling down at him, both excitement and exhaustion showing in his kind, dark brown eyes. His hair was a complete mess, which Dream found adorable. He was wearing a blue hoodie with the hood down, jeans, and sneakers. He wasn’t wearing a shirt under the hoodie, so his pale collar bones were peeking out. He had a backpack and a suitcase with a duffel bag balanced against the handle. Dream stood and tightly hugged George, who let go of his suitcase and hugged him back, burying his head into Dream’s chest. Dream put his cheek on the top of George’s head and got a whiff of his scent. He smelled vaguely of Old Spice and lavender conditioner. Dream completely enveloped George in the hug and felt George’s small hands on his shoulder blades, sending tingles down his spine. Although he didn’t want to, Dream let go after a second and George hugged Sapnap, then turned back to Dream.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wow.” George’s gaze raked up and down Dream’s entire body, from his sunglasses to his shoulders to his shoes and back.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wha-what do you mean "wow"?” Dream sputtered, wondering what George was talking about.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re really tall,” George said, staring back up into Dream’s eyes. Dream felt himself starting to blush and hoped George didn’t notice, that he couldn’t tell Dream looked away and back, that he shifted in his shoes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’ll get used to it.” Sapnap laughs. “Also, answer the question. Chipotle?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, yeah Chipotle sounds good.” George looked away from Dream and grabbed his suitcase handle. Dream grabbed his duffel bag and slung it over his shoulder. George smiled gratefully and said, “Lead the way, Sappitus Nappitus.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh my god.” Dream laughed with Sapnap and George as they walked out of the building towards the parking lot. George veered toward the cell lot, but rejoined Dream and Sapnap after a second.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You guys paid for parking?” George asked in surprise.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well yeah, of course. We wouldn’t make you walk all the way to the cell phone lot.” Dream replied. “Hey, did you happen to bring a laptop?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course, I’m not an animal.” George smiled and shrugged his backpack higher on his shoulders. “I didn’t bring any streaming stuff, though. I streamed yesterday to make up for the fact that I won’t be streaming for a bit. Why?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, it’s just that Karl dm’d me and asked if we might want to do a Halloween stream.” Dream replied. Sapnap hummed in approval. George frowned.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh. I wish I’d brought more of my stuff then. I only have a mouse and headphones, besides my laptop.” George said disappointedly. Dream frowned, but only for a moment.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You can use my pc setup, if you want,” he offered. “That way you can stream and I can just play on my laptop.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No it’s okay. I don’t want to steal your stuff,” George reassured him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s not stealing if I let you borrow it,” Dream countered. “That way you won’t have to worry about not streaming for two months and the viewers won’t have to choose between us.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’ve got a week to figure it out,” Sapnap said. “George, we’re almost there. It’s the Lexus sedan over there by the Toyota hatchback.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wha-I don’t know cars, Sapnap. What color is it? Wait that won’t help either.” Dream and Sapnap laughed as George huffed in annoyance, but Dream could see that he wasn’t really annoyed. As they approached the car, Sapnap pointed out the different car models and George laughed when he said Ford Pinto.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ha-like the bean?” George teased.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, exactly like the bean,” Sapnap said sarcastically. “Hey, who’s sitting in the front seat if I’m driving?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Me!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Shotgun-oh come on.” Dream said. “Come on, please let me have the front seat. I’m like, half a foot taller than you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Six inches isn’t that much-oh stop being immature, Sapnap.” George rolled his eyes as Sapnap giggled. “You really are a teenager. And I’ve been traveling for almost 15 hours. It’s only fair.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“My legs are long! I can’t fit in the back if you guys are in the front. I’d have to sit, like, sideways or something. Please give me shotgun.” Dream complained as they arrived at the car. Sapnap popped the trunk and they loaded George’s stuff in while Dream and George went back and forth until Sapnap intervened.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh my god you guys. How about this: neither of you are getting shotgun. Both of you sit in the back, you absolute children.” Dream still thought he should get shotgun, but didn’t want to start an argument, so he complied.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ugh, fine.” George groaned and flopped into the seat behind the driver. Sapnap sat behind the wheel and moved to start the car.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hold on a sec, Nick, I gotta move the seat forward.” Dream opened the passenger door and reached under the seat, feeling for the metal bar that would move the seat.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Haha, team short got it going </span>
  <em>
    <span>on</span>
  </em>
  <span>!” Sapnap reached his hand behind his head and dream heard him and George high-five as he found the bar and pulled the seat up as far as it would go. He closed the passenger door, then sat in the back next to George as Sapnap started the car. They exited the parking lot in the direction of Chipotle.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why do you guys call the front seat ‘shotgun’ anyways?” George asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Dunno.” Dream replied, thinking for a reason. He couldn’t find one.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Probably ‘cause it’s ‘Murica.” Sapnap exaggerated a Southern accent, making George laugh.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, probably.” George chuckled.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They turned in to the Chipotle, which was surprisingly almost empty. There was barely anybody in line and they were back in the car within 5 minutes. George opened his burrito right away and Dream followed suit, munching happily on the carnitas and, yes, pinto beans.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Come on guys, you’re making me even more hungry.” Sapnap whined from the front seat.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Dude this burrito is so good.” Dream said, agonizing Sapnap. “It’s warm and delicious and it’s got that...burrito taste?” George laughed and almost spilled his drink. Sapnap laughed through his complaints.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, exactly.” George said, still laughing. “And these chips are just so crunchy and good.” He ate one to prove his point, crunching extra hard to make sure Sapnap heard it. Dream laughed, almost wheezing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Guys, come onnnnnn,” Sapnap protested, merging onto the freeway. “You’re being real mean to me here.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Here, Nick, have some chips.” Dream opened a bag of chips and set it on the middle console. Sapnap looked away from the road to grab a chip and accidentally jerked the steering wheel, making George jump.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Jesus, Sapnap, don’t DO that. Here, I’ll save you. One second. Dream, hold my burrito?” George handed Dream his burrito and unbuckled his seatbelt. He climbed over the middle console to the passenger seat, his small frame barely squeezing between the seats, and sat down. Once he buckled his seat belt, he grabbed the bag of chips and took one out, feeding it to Sapnap, laughing. Dream laughed from the backseat, but felt a pang of… was that jealousy? Why was he jealous? What was he jealous of? A thought appeared in his head of George feeding him chips and laughing. Why was that something to be jealous about? He shook his head and refocused on the present, where Sapnap was exiting the freeway and George was gloating about getting the front seat.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ha, I ended up getting the front seat anyways. See, Dream? I knew it!” George crowed victoriously.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh come on. Just for that, I’m holding your burrito hostage until we get home,” Dream retorted playfully. George protested loudly and turned in his seat, swiping at Dream for the burrito, which Dream held out of George’s reach, wheezing. Sapnap howled with laughter from the front seat and George was now almost fully turned around, reaching for the burrito.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“This is unfair! Why are you so much taller than meeeee,” George whined, still reaching for the burrito.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Probably my awesome genes,” Dream laughed while keeping the burrito out of George’s reach, stretching the seat belt as far as it would go.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We’re almost there -don’t crush the chips, dude!” Sapnap said loudly, as one of George’s knees had come dangerously close to the bag of chips. “You guys are honestly so immature.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Says the guy who laughed at six inches not being that much,” cackled Dream. George, now slightly red from effort and embarrassment, sat back down and folded his arms, trying to look annoyed and failing. Sapnap’s lack of a good comeback made him smile and then laugh with Sapnap and Dream, which reminded Dream just how cute George was when he was mad. George was finally here, and Dream couldn’t be happier.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The Second Chapter</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Dream, George, and Sapnap arrive at the house and play Jenga feat. sleepy George. I'm terrible at summaries.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello, I'm so sorry it's been a while. It's been crazy, and I'll try to post more often. As usual, please don't tag any of the ccs in this, and please don't plagiarize. Thanks, and enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Sapnap pulled in the driveway just as the sun was beginning to touch the tops of the houses. George stepped out of the car, stretching and yawning slightly. Dream also got out and opened the trunk, unloading George’s things. George realized what Dream was doing and, blushing slightly, came to help.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Here, I can-” George reached into the trunk for the duffel bag, intending to put it on the suitcase like he had in the airport. The combined load would weigh almost as much as him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, let me,” Dream said protectively. He pulled the duffel bag out first and hoisted the straps onto his left shoulder, leaning slightly to the right to balance it. He also grabbed George’s suitcase and marched definitively toward the house before George could protest. Sapnap was already unlocking the door and George mumbled “thanks” before following with his backpack and the burritos, rubbing his eyes slightly. Dream was again reminded of how cute George could be, but didn’t think about it too much. Dream was probably just tired, right?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They entered the house and Sapnap threw the keys on the kitchen table before crossing to the fridge and getting out some leftover guacamole for the chips. Dream put George’s luggage on a chair and opened a bag of chips, which George had set down not seconds before. George shivered a little, even though he was wearing a hoodie, before sitting across the small, square table from Dream and reopening his burrito.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s kind of cold in here, not gonna lie,” George said between bites. Dream rolled his eyes while Sapnap sat down and opened his burrito for the first time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s what I keep saying! See, it’s not just me, dude!” Sapnap munched hungrily on his burrito. Dream rolled his eyes again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“60 degrees is not that bad. I’d even say it’s within the realm of normal.” Sapnap made gestures of disagreement. “Nick, you’re being dramatic. What temperature is your house usually at?” Dream turned his head to look at George, who was finishing his burrito. George swallowed the rest before answering.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ummm, about 21 degrees Celsius. So, that’d be 70 in America, I think.” George said. He wiped his face with a napkin and balled it up with his tinfoil before putting it in an empty chip bag. He looked around a moment. “Where’s Patches? I thought she’d be around.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, let me go get her. One second.” Dream stood and exited the kitchen. He walked to his room on the first floor, turning the hall light on as he went. He found Patches curled up, asleep on his chair. She perked up when he entered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Meow?” she asked, letting Dream pick her up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“George is here. In the kitchen.” Dream replied. He walked back to the kitchen to Sapnap throwing away his tinfoil and the chip bag with Dream and George’s burrito trash. George had his head on his hand, elbow resting on the table, looking exactly as you would expect someone who had been awake for over 18 hours to look, but lit up as soon as Dream entered with Patches, who jumped down from Dream’s arms and ran to George. George turned his chair to face them and leaned down towards Patches.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh my god, hello!” George greeted Patches, who immediately jumped onto his lap, in the charming way that cats do. George’s smile lit up his whole face and he petted Patches, which both of them seemed to enjoy. Dream’s heart leapt at the sight of his best friends finally meeting, and enjoying each other’s company. George’s smile was infectious, and Dream was grinning when he sat back down, facing George and Patches, who was now sitting on George’s knee, enjoying the pets.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I take it you like her?” Dream had no doubt of the answer. George was obviously overjoyed and having the time of his life. His eyes sparkled and danced when he looked back up at Dream.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She’s so cute. And so small!” George hugged Patches close and she snuggled right up to him, eliciting an “awwww” from Sapnap, who had sat back down. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She looks almost normal-sized next to you.” Dream said. Sapnap laughed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m not </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> small. I’m taller than Sapnap.” George pointed out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No you’re not.” Sapnap said. “We’re the same height.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, I’m definitely taller than you.” George retorted as Patches leapt off his lap and climbed up Dream’s jeans onto his lap. Dream scratched her head between her ears while Sapnap and George bickered. Eventually, Patches jumped down and Dream stepped in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Guys, you know I’m taller than both of you, right?” Dream said playfully.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, yeah, but we want to know who’s taller, me or George.” Sapnap responded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Look, I’m too tired for this. It’s almost 11:30 in England and I got up at 5.” George leaned back and rubbed his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh. Do you want to sleep?” Dream asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, I’m not </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> tired. I just… I don’t know,” George yawned. Dream yawned as well, then Sapnap, making all three of them chuckle.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You guys want to play jenga?” Sapnap suggested. “I think it’s still out on the coffee table from a couple of days ago.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sure,” George got up and headed toward the living room, pausing in the doorway. “Oh, there’s carpet in here. Should I take my shoes off?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dream shrugged. “Either way is fine.” He and Sapnap had both taken off their shoes already. George took his off as well and placed them neatly by the front door, padding softly to the couch. His shoes looked small next to Dream’s. He flung himself on the couch and opened the Jenga box, pouring the pieces onto the table. A few fell onto the floor.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I got it,” said Dream, scooping the pieces back onto the table and sitting next to George while Sapnap pulled up a chair on the other side of the small, round table. George began stacking the pieces while Sapnap and Dream handed more to him. A couple of times while Dream handed George a piece, their fingers touched and Dream felt electricity tingle from his fingers through his body, leaving a warmth and desire to be closer to George. He quickly pushed these thoughts away, but was beginning to realize what they meant. He tried to ignore it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, youngest first?” said Sapnap, grinning.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh come on,” said Dream. “How about we rock, paper, scissors for it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You can’t do rock paper scissors with three people, dude,” said Sapnap. “It always ends up a tie.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, let’s just try it.” George readied his fist in his palm in front of him, as did Dream and Sapnap, with some reluctance on the part of Sapnap. “On shoot… rock, paper, scissors, shoot!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“See? It always ends in a- oh wait a second.” Sapnap studied the results. Both him and Dream had thrown rock, but George had thrown paper.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ha! I win.” George signified his victory by grabbing first Sapnap’s, and then Dream’s “rock”s with his “paper”. Dream’s felt a bolt of electricity from his hand straight through his heart when George grabbed it. He blushed a little, thankful that the room was slightly dark. He was sure his hand got a little warm from the blush, and George held on slightly longer than he had for Sapnap. But surely, that didn’t mean anything. Right?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Um… anyways.” George turned back to the stack of blocks, falling suddenly silent and clearing his throat. He shifted a little as he studied the tower before carefully selecting his piece and placing it at the top. Dream followed, then Sapnap, each taking care not to topple the tower with their moves.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Jenga stack grew in height and became more wobbly. Sapnap employed tactics such as blowing on the top to make it sway dangerously during Dream’s and George’s turns, garnering protests from Dream and George and giggles from Sapnap. George won the first two games and celebrated both wins with whoops and much bragging, Their banter continued until, finally, George’s reign as king of Jenga came to an end.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay… carefully… oh no!” George screeched as he misplaced a block and the tower came toppling towards him and Dream. They both lunged towards the middle to keep the pieces from going everywhere and their shoulders crashed into each other. Dream could feel the heat from George’s body through the layers between them, so warm, so warm. He was so distracted by the warmth that he completely failed to keep the pieces from falling off the table and onto the floor. He blinked in surprise.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You good, Clay?” Sapnap asked from across the table, chuckling at Dream’s fumble. “Did you have, like, a stroke or something?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh. I’m good,” Dream chuckled, recomposing himself and shoving away the thought of George with fewer layers between them that had suddenly entered his brain. “I think I’m just tired.” He wasn’t tired at all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mmmm… yeah, same.” George’s eyelids were drooping from exhaustion and Dream quickly noticed that they had been playing for over forty-five minutes, making it 12:15 am England time. George had been up for almost 20 hours, and was dead on his feet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh shoot, dude. You’re like, exhausted.” Sapnap said worriedly, looking at George, who yawned again, nearly falling asleep on the couch. “Here, Clay, I’ll clean up while you help George get settled.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks, Nick. Alright, George. You’re in my room.” Dream stood and walked to the kitchen, followed by a bleary-eyed George, who rubbed his eyes. Dream grabbed George’s duffel bag and suitcase, leaving the backpack for George, and made his way to his room, down the hallway.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dream entered his room and put George’s things down just inside the door, to the left. In the corner across from the door, there was a pullout couch, already made into a bed. In the corner to the left, there was a desk with Dream’s PC and monitors already shut off for the night. In the remaining corner, there was Dream’s bed. Patches snoozed in her bed between Dream’s and the pullout couch.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright,” Dream said, straightening up as George entered. “You can have the bed, if you’d like.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nah, I’ll sleep on the couch.” George stepped in that direction.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You sure? Cause I can sleep on the couch. It’s okay.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dream, I’m about to fall asleep standing up. I can handle a pullout couch,” George replied, grabbing his duffel and putting it on the couch to extricate some clothes and a toothbrush. He stepped toward the door, bound for the bathroom across the hall.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, then. Sounds good. Oh, by the way,” Dream called as George opened the bathroom door, “you know you can call me Clay, right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, Clay.” George flashed him a grin as he closed the bathroom door. Dream ignored the fluttery feeling in his chest as he swiftly changed into a more comfortable t-shirt and sweatpants. He flopped onto his bed and started scrolling through twitter, stopping only to pet Patches when she hopped up next to him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>George reentered Dream’s room, clad in pajama pants and a Dream hoodie. Dream glanced up when he came in, looked back at his phone, then did a double take and looked back up at him, staring. Something about seeing George in Dream’s merch prompted Dream to think </span>
  <em>
    <span>wow, that’s hot.</span>
  </em>
  <span> He continued staring as George got into the pullout-couch-bed and closed his eyes, falling asleep immediately. His chest began rising and falling rhythmically and he looked so peaceful and adorable. Dream kept staring, </span>
  <em>
    <span>that’s hot</span>
  </em>
  <span> reverberating through his brain, consuming him.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>That’s hot that’s hot that’s hot that’s - wait, what the hell? </span>
  </em>
  <span>Dream shook his head to clear his mind. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Why am I finding him hot? What is this?</span>
  </em>
  <span> Dream stared at George again, first in confusion, then just because George looked so cute like that, on his back with one arm over his head. George sniffed in his sleep and turned his head toward Dream. Dream tore his eyes away, telling himself it was creepy to stare at your friend while they slept. He got up to plug in his phone and put Patches on her bed for the night, stealing one last glance at George before turning out the lights and getting into his own bed. It wasn’t even 9 pm, but Dream decided to go to sleep anyway. He dug his head into his pillow and tried not to think about George, but even he knew that the more you try not to think about something, the more it consumes you until you can’t stop thinking about it. So, Dream’s last thought before he fell asleep was George.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The Third Chapter</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Y'know the Halloween stream I mentioned in the first chapter? Yeah that's the next one. Here's some prep for it. Catgirl Dream????</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hi, same as always. Don't tag the content creators, don't plagiarize or your kneecaps will meet their demise by my hands. This is a work of fiction, and it is meant to be treated as such. Thank you so much, and enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The weeks passed unceremoniously, for the most part. Except for stolen glances when the other wasn’t looking, Dream and George interacted like any pair of good friends would. As October faded, the rainstorms that plague Florida in the summer subsided and the wind stilled into sweltering heat. Sometimes, it got so intense that Dream’s AC couldn’t handle it, especially in Dream’s room, where his pc generated heat faster than the AC could blow it away. Florida is surprisingly hot in late October, and George hadn’t planned for that. There were, of course, his trademark groan and proclamation of his hotness, which got many laughs from Dream and Sapnap. This was all part of his carefully crafted facade, which he never seemed to drop. Composure was important to George, and he rarely slipped out of it. But Dream would sometimes catch him off guard, intensely focused in front of Dream’s pc that was blazing hot after running for hours. George would be staring at the screen, biting his lip, so concentrated on his work that he didn’t notice a tiny drop of sweat running down the side of his face, or his cheeks flushing rosy-red from the temperature. He hated these things being pointed out to him, but hilarity ensued on one such occasion.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dream was wearing black basketball shorts and a light blue T-shirt. He was laying flat on his back on the living room couch, trying hard not to focus on how hot it was. It was October 28th, for fuck’s sake. The fact that it was 80 degrees in the house seemed improbable when he checked the thermostat that morning, but it soon proved to be true, and he had spent the past 8 or so hours trying various ways to cool himself down. It was around 6 pm and he had so far learned that taking a cold shower, opening the window, and putting ice in your underwear do not help cool you down.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And so he wallowed in the heat and sweated and checked twitter. George had just announced a few minutes prior that he would be doing a Halloween stream on the Dream SMP featuring Sapnap, Karl Jacobs, BadBoyHalo, and Quackity. But for some reason, Dream was trending. Dream tapped the trending icon and discovered that the fans were wondering why he wasn’t going to be participating in the stream, since all of his friends were. It was, of course, because George was using his setup and Dream couldn’t effectively play on the Dream SMP on his laptop. Besides, he didn’t want to take viewers from anyone and it would be more fun for Dream to randomly appear in the audio background of George’s stream, as the fans didn’t know that George was visiting.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Hmm… should I talk in the background of Sapnap’s stream first, and then George’s? Or would that be weird? </span>
  </em>
  <span>Dream pondered as he extricated himself from his sweaty indent in the couch to go ask George, who was working with Karl to set up events and decorations on the Dream SMP for the stream. He trudged down the hallway, feet sweaty in his socks, and softly knocked and opened his bedroom door. He was glad he opened it softly, for a beautiful sight awaited him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His room was sweltering, and he could see it on George’s face and bare chest. George was clad only in a pair of knee-length shorts and headphones. His eyes stayed riveted on the screen, as he hadn’t heard Dream enter the room. Sweat dripped in rivulets down his face, neck, chest, and back. He had one leg tucked underneath him, and the other dangling, as he was too short to reach the floor for the desk height. His water bottle was nearly empty and his face was almost completely pink from how hot it was. His chest gleamed with sweat, illuminated by the computer. He was biting his lip, typing intensely, not moving any other part of his body but to breathe. Dream stood still as a deer in headlights in the doorway, eyes raking over George’s slim torso, mouth slightly open in shock and amorous admiration. Again, his mind was spamming </span>
  <em>
    <span>HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT, </span>
  </em>
  <span>but not in a temperature way. In a holy-shit-I-want-to-kiss-him way.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dream stood like that for what seemed like hours. When he finally tore his eyes away, he realized he had dropped his phone on the ground. He quickly bent down to pick it up and in the process, smacked his head on the doorframe. The resulting </span>
  <em>
    <span>thunk</span>
  </em>
  <span> alerted George, who spun in his chair, eyes wide in shock, accidentally ripping the headphones off his head with the sudden movement. This caused a pained “ow!” to fall from his lips at the same time Dream yelled “FUCK!” and straightened up, leaning against the doorframe and rubbing his sore head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh my God, Dream- I mean, Clay, you scared me!” George leaned back in his chair, hand on his chest, breathing heavily. “Jesus, I thought- I don’t know. Ouch, that hurt. Jesus.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shit, my head… sorry, George,” said Dream, still recovering from hitting his head and seeing George shirtless, though it wasn’t clear which was having more of an effect.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s alright. You good, though?” George’s eyebrows furrowed in concern. He sat up slightly. “You’re not concussed, are you? It sounded like you hit yourself pretty hard, not gonna lie.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m… okay, I think.” Dream blinked a few times.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What day is it?” George asked, leaning forward, concern evident in his voice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh… I don’t know, dude. Um, Halloween’s on Thursday, and it’s Monday, so I guess that’d make it the 28th?” Dream rubbed his eyes. Pain was still shooting through his scalp, but it was subsiding to a dull throb, which he took as a good sign.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think you’re okay… hang on, look at me. No, in the eyes.” George got up from his chair and strode swiftly over to Dream, grabbing his hand away from his eyes, forcing him to make eye contact with George. Dream would never get tired of those dark brown eyes staring into his own. His pupils dilated involuntarily, like they always did whenever he looked at George.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait a minute… are your pupils dilated?” George asked, still staring into Dream’s piercing emerald eyes. Dream thought he saw George’s eyes flick down to his lips, but he could’ve imagined it. “That’s bad, Clay. You might be concussed.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, I’m fine.” Dream stepped back and pushed a slightly hurt-looking, and still shirtless, George away from him. A sudden image of George’s upper chest covered in marks made by Dream entered his head, and- no. He had to stay focused. What did he come in here for?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh. Well, you should probably ice your head anyway.” George stepped back towards the computer, looking downcast at the rejection. Dream immediately felt guilty.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I will. Uh…thanks. I, uh, that’s not what I came in here for,” said Dream, purposely averting his gaze from George’s body and walking over to sit on his bed. “I wanted to ask how you wanted to announce that you’re visiting. Cause nobody has yet, and I was wondering if you were going to, like, tweet about it before the Halloween stream, or what you were wanting to do there?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh. I actually hadn’t thought about it.” George screwed up his face in thought. “Maybe… you could, like, talk in Sapnap’s stream at the beginning, and then drop some sort of hint and come to my stream? That might be funny.” George smiled and chucked at the thought.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s exactly what I was thinking!” Dream said excitedly. “Wait but that means no facecam. You okay with that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, I wasn’t planning on having a facecam anyways. Too damn hot.” George gestured absently to himself, indicating his sweaty condition. “I honestly don’t know how you deal with it. How do you still have a shirt on?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, I, uh,” Dream stuttered. Flustered, he blushed a little. “I, uh, usually don’t have to deal with it because the AC usually works. I don’t know why it isn’t.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah. Makes sense,” George replied.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah.” Dream repeated. A silence followed, interrupted when George smiled, then stifled a giggle, and finally let out a series of short chuckles, much to Dream’s bewilderment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?” Dream asked, tilting his head in confusion. “What’s so funny?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, nothing.” George let out a few more snickers before clearing his throat. “I just had an idea for a secret subgoal. Since there’s no facecam.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What is it?” Dream asked, tentatively amused. This would either be something embarrassing or hilarious, or both, and with George, you never really could tell.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know the maid dress and cat ears that got sent to your P.O. box?” George was giggling again, on the verge of full-on laughter. “Well, we should make it so that if I hit 21k subs, you put them on.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh come, George. No way. No fucking way!” Dream shook his head and crossed his arms, but he started chuckling, then laughing along with George. “Come on, dude. Why?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why not?” George laughed. “Please, Clay, it would be so funny. God, imagine the look on Sapnap’s face when you walk into his room wearing a fucking maid outfit and cat ears.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That is NOT happening.” Dream envisioned Sapnap looking up to see Dream in a maid outfit and cat ears. He would never let Dream live it down.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Please, Clay. What if it’s just to prank Sapnap? The viewers don’t have to know,” George pleaded with Dream, who shook his head, but still had the goofiest grin on his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No way dude.” Dream tried not to, but he couldn’t help but wheeze at the thought. “Absolutely fucking not.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Absolutely not what?” Sapnap appeared in the doorway. For some reason, Sapnap was completely immune to hot temperatures; he was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, but wasn’t sweating, at least not overtly. He raised an eyebrow as he glanced between Dream and George, who were laughing almost uncontrollably. “What’s so funny?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Should we tell him, Clay?” asked George, who flopped back on his chair, dying of laughter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know, should we?” Dream looked over at Sapnap, who was getting slightly exasperated.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know. Should we?” George was now toying with Sapnap, enjoying his frustration.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know. Should we?” Dream echoed. Sapnap looked a little pissed, making Dream wheeze even harder, until Sapnap finally addressed Dream.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Look, if you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine. But I walked in here to see you idiots dying for no reason and George is fucking shirtless-” he rolled his eyes in George’s direction, causing George to redden slightly “-and you’ve got a nasty-looking bump on your head, which I’m guessing is what made the noise earlier. But if you don’t want to tell me what is oh-so-funny, that’s fine. I’ll just go back upstairs and leave you to your bullshit, okay?” Sapnap huffed and turned to exit.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait, Nick, hold on, dude. We’ll tell you,” Dream said hurriedly, coughing a few times so he could stop laughing. Sapnap waited patiently. “George said that during the Halloween stream, if he reached 21k subs, I would have to put on the maid outfit and cat ears.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Isn’t that bloody hilarious?” George giggled, still looking slightly embarrassed from Sapnap’s comment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I mean…” Sapnap was still trying to look mad at his friends, but couldn’t hold it together. He burst out laughing, causing Dream and George to laugh as well. “Yeah, that’s about the funniest fucking thing I’ve heard all year. Oh, man.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know, right?” Dream wheezed, almost doubling over from laughter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s a good thing I wasn’t planning on having a facecam. Bet the viewers would love that,” Sapnap smirked. “It’d be, like, a double whammy. Face reveal AND maid dress.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And cat ears! Don’t forget the cat ears,” added George enthusiastically.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“God. The fucking cat ears.” Dream rolled his eyes. “It might be too much.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well if it is, you can always take them off.” George reasoned. “Even if you only keep them on for a minute, I still think it would be really funny.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Please, dude, it would be so hilarious,” Sapnap implored.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh my God, you’re on board with this, too?” Dream sighed at the inevitable. “Fine. When George gets 21k subs, I’ll put on the fuckin maid dress.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And the cat ears?” asked Sapnap.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And the cat ears. Man, this is gonna suck.” Dream rubbed his eyes in exasperation, but couldn’t hide the grin on his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m never going to let you live this down,” chuckled Sapnap as he exited, closing the door part way behind him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know, I know!” Dream called after him, then leaned back and splayed himself across his bed. “George, you are going to be the death of me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, come on, Clay. You know you want to wear the maid dress and cat ears,” teased George. “I bet you’d look good in some thigh-highs and ballerina pumps as well.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright, that’s enough, George.” Dream warned. “Y’know, I’ve still got that picture of you t-posing in Dream merch that is way too big for you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You wouldn’t post it. I know you wouldn’t.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Eh, you never know.” Dream felt a smile creeping at the edges of his mouth.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Seriously, Clay. You wouldn’t.” There was a hint of anxiety in George’s voice. Dream could hear the desk chair creak as George sat up in it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, okay, I won’t. I swear.” Dream heard George sigh imperceptibly in relief and sink back into the chair.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good.” George paused. “Hey, maybe you should try on the dress beforehand-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, no fucking way. Absolutely not.” Dream sat up suddenly, suppressing a grin. “Don’t start that shit again.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I was joking!” George cracked a grin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know.” Dream let his own laughter spill out and the pair laughed together.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. The Fourth Chapter</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The Halloween stream, feat. Dream in a maid dress!</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Kind of forgot about this, my bad. In my defense, I have exams lol. Same shit, don't plagiarize, don't share this with the CCs. Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you sure about me streaming on your setup?” George was adjusting various things on the desk to fit him, lowering the mic, scooting the keyboard a little closer to the edge of the desk, and tilting the monitors down. The AC had been fixed just in time for Halloween, and now the late-afternoon heat couldn’t come through the walls and smother Dream, George, and Sapnap.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“For sure, dude! It’s no problem,” replied Dream. He was sitting on his bed, scratching between Patches’ ears and scrolling through twitter. Since it was announced, the Halloween stream with George, Sapnap, Karl, Bad, and Quackity had been trending occasionally and as the time grew near, it was trending again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dream was already scheming of ways he could go about revealing George’s location, quips he could say to give a little hint. If George had a facecam, he could say that the chair and wallpaper looked awfully familiar. But George had his facecam off, even though it was cool enough in the house for him to wear a hoodie. Today, he had chosen the same Dream hoodie he wore on the first night. It was a little big on him, making him look smaller than he was. Dream was lucky that George wasn’t looking at him. Otherwise, he surely would’ve noticed the pink tinge that had been creeping onto Dream’s face, like vines up a castle wall. The light dusting of freckles across his nose wasn’t enough to hide it. He had to leave before George noticed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright, I’ll be in Sapnap’s room for the beginning of the stream,” said Dream, standing and moving toward the door. “Then I’ll make some sort of joke about hopping on a plane and come back?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, or about taking a road trip to see me,” giggled George as he clicked save on the streamlab and put on his headphones.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oooh, that’s pretty good. I might use that.” Dream smiled. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, do it.” George replied, moving his headphone cord out of the way and sitting down. “Don’t forget about the subgoal!” he said sneakily as Dream exited.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I won’t!” Dream called to George, closing the door and walking down the dimly lit hall toward the stairs, trying to concentrate on anything but the blooming rose in his cheeks. There was no way George would hit the subgoal of 21k. Dream hoped he wouldn’t have to wear the maid dress and cat ears, even though there wouldn’t be any pictures of it. Sapnap would never let him live it down. He hadn’t even tried it on, so he had no clue if it would even fit.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His socks made no noise on the carpeted stairs. His mind wandered without permission to George’s sweat-covered torso from a few days ago. God, he’d love to grab a fistful of that hoodie - his hoodie -  and kiss George until he couldn’t feel his lips. His face grew steadily warmer as he thought of pressing George into his bed, bodies together, stripping him of his hoodie, George’s hands in Dream’s hair and Dream’s hands-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fuck. Nope.” Dream said aloud to himself, stopping himself as he reached the top of the stairs. He leaned against the wall for a second, feeling its cool smoothness against his palm. He would not - could not allow himself to fantasize about his best friend this way. It wouldn’t make the longing in his chest or the electric shocks down his spine when they touched go away. He had to stop.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He took one more shaky breath, then another, then a steadier breath. Once the rose had left his face, he stepped towards Sapnap’s room and opened the door. Sapnap looked up from his computer when Dream entered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey man, I’m about to start - you good, bro?” Sapnap’s eyebrows furrowed in concern. He took his headphones off and rested them around his neck. “You look a little off.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wha - oh, I’m fine.” Dream coughed and pulled up a chair by Sapnap’s desk. He kept his eyes riveted to Sapnap’s screens, one displaying Minecraft and the other ready to start streaming. He kept his mind reined in, for the most part. He kept the rose out of his cheeks entirely.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You sure, dude?” Sapnap turned to face Dream, worry written all over his face. “Did you eat something weird? Cause that leftover pizza you ate for breakfast was like two weeks old-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I told you, Nick, I’m fine.” Dream snapped at his friend, before calming himself. “Sorry. I’m totally fine. I just-” He searched for an excuse for his demeanor. Clearly, Sapnap had noticed something was up and Dream did not want to have to tell him about his feelings for George. “-I just don’t want to have to wear the maid dress. That’s all.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, whew. Thought you were sick or something.” Sapnap leaned back in his chair and refocused on his computer, putting his headphones back on. “That’s totally fair. And don’t worry about it, I’m sure you won’t have to wear them.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah. Yeah, that would suck.” Dream continued, letting out a breath he didn’t realize  he was holding. “Sorry for snapping at you, by the way. Didn’t mean to.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s all good, bro.” Sapnap replied, smiling reassuringly. He opened Discord. “I wouldn’t want to be you right now. Join the call? I want to test for feedback.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, yeah, for sure.” Dream got out his phone and opened discord. While it was loading, he took his earbuds out and plugged them in. He joined the call.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Testing.” Sapnap said, listening for feedback. Upon hearing nothing, he tried louder. “TESTING!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think it’s okay - oh my god,” Dream cringed as feedback reverberated through his head from his own words.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“OW! Okay so that was not fun,” Sapnap turned down his mic a bit. “Wait, but then chat might not be able to hear me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can just chill in the living room,” Dream offered, ears ringing slightly. “It’s no big deal.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You sure? Actually, yeah, could you, please? That would be perfect.” Sapnap adjusted a few more things on his software, now that he wouldn’t have to account for the presence of another mic.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah no problem.” Dream stood and exited Sapnap’s room. He reached the living room and flopped onto the couch, putting his feet up. He looked back at his phone and noticed that George had joined the call, but was deafened. He sighed, waiting for Sapnap to start streaming and do his intro, as he was also deafened.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As he waited, he opened Twitch on his phone and clicked onto George’s stream, which had just started. The intro music was the same as always, and the chat was already going too fast to read. It was mostly “hello!” and “gogy!”, but eventually George spoke.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hello! Hi guys!” George greeted the chat. Chat went even faster, just more “hello!” and “gogy!” but there were a few questions about his facecam, or lack thereof. George saw these and Dream heard him take a nervously excited breath in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hi! Yeah, no facecam today! Sorry! But don’t worry, there’s a lot of exciting things to do!” George kept talking to chat as he logged into the Dream SMP and started walking around. Dream decided to go back into Sapnap’s room and talk through his mic. He exited George’s stream and muted himself on discord. Sapnap was doing his stream intro when Dream walked in and sat back down, making as little noise as possible.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah so-” Sapnap turned to face Dream as he sat down “-dude what are you doing? The feedback is terrible. I thought you were chilling in the living room?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nah, I muted on my phone.” Dream gestured to it. “So we’re good. Hi chat! What’s up?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Chat buzzed by with the swiftness of a gazelle on steroids. Sapnap’s viewer count skyrocketed, but George’s went down a little. Dream felt bad, but as soon as George undeafened, it would go back to normal. Dream and Sapnap continued talking to chat until George unmuted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey guys!” George said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“ ‘Sup, George,” replied Sapnap, punching his character in Minecraft.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, George.” Dream wished he could be playing, but his laptop just wouldn’t do well for this. They continued talking while waiting for Karl, Bad, and Quackity to join the server and undeafen in the call.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dream, when are you going to visit? Chat was asking,” George said, about fifteen minutes later. Dream saw the bait, and took it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, how about I fly on a plane and visit right now?” he teased, slowly moving away from Sapnap’s mic.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do it. You won’t.” Sapnap winked at Dream and mouthed </span>
  <em>
    <span>go</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Dream started toward the door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“See you soon, George!” Dream shouted from the door. He walked downstairs and through the hall to his room, thinking about how chat must be in shambles. He reached his door and pondered how he should enter. He decided on knocking, three times, loud enough for chat to hear him through George’s mic.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Come in!” George called. Dream could hear his smile in his words, and sure enough, he had a big, goofy grin on his face when Dream opened the door. George had pulled up a chair for Dream before he started streaming, so Dream sat on the chair.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hi George! Hi chat!” Dream said. Immediately, they exploded with excitement.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hi Dream!” George laughed. “Look at chat, oh my God. You guys didn’t see this one coming, did you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dream laughed as George continued to poke fun at chat. Karl, Bad, and Quackity still hadn’t joined yet, so George turned on donations for a small Q &amp; A while Dream discarded his phone and earbuds on his bed and donned a pair of wireless headphones so he could hear George’s game sounds as well as Sapnap, Karl, Bad, and Quackity.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“ ‘When did you get there?’ A few weeks ago, actually.” George answered a question from a dono. “It’s really hot here, especially for October. But Dream keeps the house at refrigerator temperature. Dunno why.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey!” Dream chuckled at George’s light teasing. He had to get George back for that one. He scanned chat for questions. “ ‘Is Dream really 6’3”?’ Yeah, I am. George can confirm. Actually, he’s sitting at my desk and his feet aren’t even touching the floor.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dream!” George said in exasperation, blushing slightly in embarrassment. It was true; he had one leg curled underneath him and the other one over it, swinging freely. Dream laughed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can we get some primes for George being short?” Dream continued the bit, laughing. Sapnap joined in, much to George’s exasperation. Eventually, Karl, Bad, and Quackity joined and they started messing around on the server. Dream kept his thoughts contained by focusing on how the stream was going, keeping tabs on donations, reading chat, and occasionally answering questions. Chat was so excited that George was visiting Dream that George’s subcount skyrocketed. About two hours into the stream, he hit 21k.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh my god, guys, thank you so much for 21k!” George glanced at his second monitor, but didn’t register the notification it gave him of the secret subgoal. Dream had hoped he would forget, but the notification put all doubt away that he would have to wear the maid dress.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ha. Nice.” Dream could hear Sapnap’s smile through his voice. George looked confused for a moment, then his face lit up in a mischievous grin when he remembered. He turned his head to Dream excitedly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do it! Do it! You said you would!” George nudged Dream with his elbow, urging him to follow through. Chat whizzed by with predictions of a face reveal, a face cam for George, Patches content, the usual. Dream groaned and got up from his chair, stretching. He took off his headphones and set them on his chair.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, come on, George. Do I </span>
  <em>
    <span>have</span>
  </em>
  <span> to?” Dream pleaded, leaning against the desk, a last ditch effort to save himself from embarrassment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes,” George replied resolutely, turning back to the screen. “You said you would.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, fine.” Dream crossed the room to his closet and removed the maid outfit from a shelf where it was folded, untouched except for when he cut off the tags. He grabbed the cat ears from behind it and started towards the door. His hand was on the door handle when George spoke.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I muted myself. You know you don’t have to, if you don’t want to, Clay.” George had turned his chair fully towards Dream and shifted his headphones so his right ear was exposed. His finger was on the mute button and his deep brown eyes looked up at Dream’s with a firm kindness, a refusal to pressure his friend into anything he didn’t want to do. Dream didn’t want to wear the maid dress, but it was too good of a meme to not take advantage of. Besides, it would make George laugh, which was Dream’s priority in this situation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, do </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> want me to?” Dream asked George, careful to keep his tone joking and light, away from the low, sultry zone it almost dipped to.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re asking </span>
  <em>
    <span>me</span>
  </em>
  <span>?” George replied. Dream nodded. George looked up, genuinely pondering the question. “Well, I think it would be really funny. But if it makes you uncomfortable, then don’t do it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m gonna do it,” Dream decided, smirking at the thought. George’s pensive neutral half-frown broke into a full grin. He gave Dream a thumbs up as he turned back to the computer and unmuted himself. Dream could hear him doing his best to ignore chat’s questions about where he went as he stepped into the bathroom.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The cold tile, which he could feel through his socks, jolted him back to reality from the fuzzy adrenaline rush he got whenever he talked to George. He realized that he had no idea what he was getting himself into, but if it made George laugh, he didn’t care all that much. He put the cat ears on the counter, causing the little bells on the ears to jingle a bit. He took off his shirt and unfolded the maid dress, holding it out in front of him. The skirt looked like it would reach to his knees and he considered removing his jeans as well, but decided against it. He unzipped the back and threw it ungracefully over his head. He slid it down over himself, careful not to rip anything in case it was unexpectedly too small. He put on the cat ears, looked in the mirror, and almost burst into laughter. He looked ridiculous, all 6’3” of him in a cutesy maid dress, with more bows and frills than he had ever seen in his life. The cat ears definitely added to the whole ensemble and his jeans tied it all together as the silliest outfit he had ever worn, surpassing all the dinosaur onesies from his elementary years and the stupid hamburger costume from Halloween 2010. He shook his head to himself in the mirror and reached around to zip up the back, but found that he couldn’t get it more than halfway. It wasn’t that the dress was too small (not like he would know, he’d never worn one before), but the off-the-shoulder sleeves didn’t allow him the flexibility to zip it up completely.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ah, shit, </span>
  </em>
  <span>he thought to himself. </span>
  <em>
    <span>What the hell am I going to do? Ask George to zip it up? </span>
  </em>
  <span>His cheeks turned pink with embarrassment at the thought, but he wasn’t just going to go around in a half-zipped dress. Asking Sapnap was completely out of the question; Sapnap would just straight-up tell chat all of what was happening and Dream did not intend to let anyone outside of the three of them know that he was wearing a maid dress and cat ears.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So, he grabbed his shirt and resignedly headed across the hall to his room. He took a deep breath before knocking and entering.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m back.” Dream cringed to himself in anticipation as he threw his shirt on the bed. He stood awkwardly in the doorway, waiting for George to turn towards him. After an agonizing moment, George realized Dream had returned and did a double take, first glancing over while talking to Sapnap, then whipping his head back towards Dream and turning his chair as he went, jaw practically on the floor, staring openly at Dream, completely silent. Dream stood unmoving, searching George’s face for any sort of emotion. Finding none, he waited until he couldn’t anymore.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“George? You good?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>George closed his mouth and Dream noticed the rose creeping through his cheeks, causing Dream to blush as well.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Clay. Holy fuck.”</span>
</p>
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